The Deus Ex transmissions

[Nodi]

I thought about what made Deus Ex 1 the only single player game except mass effect that I've actually bothered completing. And I liked Deus Ex much more than mass effect.

I realised that it was the constant transmissions from Tracer, Alex or whoever that made the game really outstanding for me. Getting constant feedback on what you did and what you didn't do made it feel like it actually mattered to people what you where doing. For me that brought the story to life.

So what I'm trying to say to the devs or you other people is that I really hope the same kind of transmissions are in Deus Ex 3 and in equal or greater supply. For me it wouldn't feel like Deus Ex without them. Anyone else think the same way?

[Viktoria]

I enjoyed the communicative transmissions too so, yes, that's a nod from me.

Welcome to the forum.

[jamhaw]

Personally I always kind of disliked how the transmissions seemed to work. They appeared to see out of your eyes but then how come they didn't do so when it would have really helped them to do so? It should have been a signifigant plot point or at least explained better. Personally I think it was done best in Penumbra Overture, while you never know why a miner with an old radio seems to know where you are and what you are doing at all times (many people even thought it was a plot hole) it actually did make perfect sense after you have played the sequel a couple of times. Or it could just be that the character Red had such a creepy voice.

[K^2]

I thought we were going to talk about gears and ratios and stuff.

Yeah, I thought com-link added to the game. I'm sure DX3 will keep it.

[Mindmute]

Originally Posted by K^2

Yeah, I thought com-link added to the game. I'm sure DX3 will keep it.

That depends..
I absolutely loved the infolink in the first game, but in IW it just seemed a little bit silly to me.

Everyone in IW, from some religious people making makeshift bases in churches to almost anyone with some small degree of authority, had access to your infolink.
They could all communicate with you at will and know what you were doing in crucial points in the game.. Even worse, even despite this you could get away with lying to them more often than not.

[darthnirvana]

I agree that the transmissions in DX from various important people at UNATCO, Tong, and the like really added to the overall atmosphere of the game.

I think that a comparison between the transmissions in DX and IW are indicative of the general shortcomings of IW. In DX, the first 3rd of that game you are an agent working on multiple assignments. You get mission updates from your superiors on your infolink, you "check back in" with the home base in between operations, and you even have an office with email.

It all added to the overall atmosphere that made the game so enthralling (and why its still in my honest opinion the best game ever made.) I believe in film its called Mise-en-scène (if I'm wrong please don't flame, I took 1 film class in undergrad 8 years ago).

That, in my opinion, is why IW was so inferior. I never felt like there was an exciting world around me. Just alot of annoying, unbelievable characters who were taking turns at giving me assignments to ultimately get me to Liberty Island at the end of the game. But I never felt like any of it mattered. The transmissions in DX were sometimes nonsensical, sometimes just annoying, but never were they effective at enveloping you in the game's world, like most of the other aspects compared between the two games.

[FrankCSIS]

I never felt like there was an exciting world around me.

I don't like to dictate rules or concepts, but to me the most important part of story telling is to let the person feel there is a much larger world out there than what you are experimenting/witnessing, and yet you accept that premise and continue progressing within the boundaries of your small story.

Going back to HQ, hacking Manderley's computer to read his emails, or your brother's in his apartment, the communication system, and much much more, all contributed to the idea that almost everyone you met throughout the story had a life of their own, and you knew only a fraction of it. What's more, most of the time you weren't directly exposed to their lives the way most games tend to do with cut scenes and forced quests, with characters barging into your own existence with their requests. You only knew what you decided to look for and what you learned on your own, a powerful tool to make you feel like there is always more to learn than what you already know, and more than you will ever be able to find out.

That, is a lot more powerful than long storylines and endless dialogues. What is hinted at, but remains unsaid, that's what creates an enormous complex world, and the feedback you got from the com link system definitely contributed to the idea.

[Nodi]

Originally Posted by FrankCSIS

I don't like to dictate rules or concepts, but to me the most important part of story telling is to let the person feel there is a much larger world out there than what you are experimenting/witnessing, and yet you accept that premise and continue progressing within the boundaries of your small story.

I agree, reading the others mail or finding peoples datapads gave great immersion. But without the com-link transmissions it would still have felt that no-one really cared about the choices you made in the game.

Many later games tried and still tries to implement choices or non-linear gameplay but what they forget is that if you don't get feedback it's pointless. If the choices don't change peoples attitude towards you then why even bother choosing.

[mad_red]

Yeah, the transmissions were great! Also, I agree with darthnirvana.

I remember first time Icarus started talking to me. I got very nervous because I thought he was hacking my system and that eventually he would be able to hack the organs right out of my body. LOL

It wasn't near the end of DX1 that everyone started talking through the infolink trying to convince me. By then it made sense.

[Mezmerizer]

Exactly, transmissions were one of the factors that gave suspense and immersion to the game.

[AaronJ]

I shat myself when I got the first infolink from Icarus.

[Tracer Tong]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

I shat myself when I got the first infolink from Icarus.

That was, for me, a moment of true immersion. That and his phone call.

1st run was freaking scary.

[Jerion]

^^

Originally Posted by AaronJ

I shat myself when I got the first infolink from Icarus.

No kiddin.

A bit off-topic: The first time through, when you're in the MJ12 facility without anything but an Assault Shotgun and a prod (maybe a pistol if you still have rounds for it), and you encounter those Military Bots stomping around, it was a totally "Ho-Ho-Holy *****" moment.

[Tracer Tong]

A bit off-topic: As a first timer, when I exited the MJ12 facility just to find myself in the UNATCO HQ, I was so angered and amazed (mostly immersed). Mostly because I always wondered when I could open the damn basement door, which I figured out that is just a map prop by the time I reached Hong Kong. It was amazing how all of this was tied up. 1st playthrough rocked!

[itsalladream]

Yeah, my first time coming out of the basement, I was like, " This looks familiar." My first play through rocked, as did my second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and I'm rocking through my eigth (give or take 1 or 2) right now.

[Blade_hunter]

I think the transmissions in DX have two roles, the first is to immerse the player, and the second is to help the player.
Some games used that trick used since the game called SIN, I don't know if it was made before but SIN got the communications though like deus ex, in soldier of fortune you got that too, and sometimes your character respond to the communications. The first FPS with messages / notes was perhaps Unreal, we can find messages wrote in walls and your translator translated any message

this thing helps the player and avoid to be completely lost on his mission ...

I don't know if we could add some new stuff about that ...

[Ghostface]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

I shat myself when I got the first infolink from Icarus.

Ohhh man that was intense.

I was like WTF? And some crazed AI was in my head. I didn't know what it planned to do with "full access" to my systems.